Shuttered Upper West Side Hotel Sold For $80 Million: Report

Upper West Side NY

29 December, 2021

10:28 AM

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UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — In one of the most expensive real estate deals on the Upper West Side in 2021, the shuttered Excelsior Hotel has been sold for nearly $80 million, the New York Post reported late Tuesday afternoon. The landmarked hotel is located at 45 West 81st Street, between Columbus and Central Park West adjacent to the American Museum of Natural History. It has existed at the address for exactly 100 years. The Excelsior Hotel has been closed since the beginning of the pandemic. The building was sold by its longtime family owner to John Young's Emmut Properties, reported the Post. The new buyer has a track record of turning buildings into luxury rental apartments. Even though the hotel has been closed, the 133,000 square-foot hotel with over 200 rooms has a city property tax bill of $1.3 million, with half of that due on Jan. 1, reported the Post. Additionally, because the Excelsior failed to reopen by Nov. 1, a newly instated law would mean the former owner has to pay severance of $500 a week for 26 weeks to each of his employees, the Post added. The former owner, Harry Krakowski, did not return the Post's requests for comment. The Excelsior was one of the neighborhood's most popular hotels, within a 30-second walk of both Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History. It would also be a popular spot for the Thanksgiving Day Parade as it offered views from directly above the route.